Development Officer

Category: Full-time; exempt

Location: Hybrid work environment. Day-to-day will be remote, but must reside within/near the San Francisco Bay Area in California as the position will include weekly travel to the office to process gifts and occasional travel for meetings or other organization-related events, including weekends.

Students Rising Above (SRA)

Students Rising Above (SRA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded over 25 years ago to serve all nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area, now supporting students across the country. Students Rising Above (SRA) believes in the transformative power of education and every day we work to empower underrepresented students to achieve their life goals by connecting them to the tools, resources, and supportive community they need to excel and thrive on their college-to-career journey.

Comprised of a tightly organized team of trained experts, corporate partners, an engaged student community, and the commitment of both individual donors and foundations, SRA has created an all-encompassing program that offers students support, including but not limited to:

• Social-emotional support
• Academic advising
• Healthcare navigation
• Career guidance
• Professional development

By providing comprehensive guidance and support whenever and wherever it’s needed, SRA accomplishes its mission through a series of proven initiatives that have a direct and profound impact, affecting lives for generations. For more information, visit www.studentsrisingabove.org.

Overview:

The Development Officer plays a critical leadership role in driving SRA’s fundraising operations, donor engagement strategy, and grants portfolio. This position manages complex fundraising workflows, coordinates high-quality donor communications, ensures donor event success, and equips the CEO and COO to cultivate and steward major donors and institutional funders.

The Development Officer is a senior individual contributor—no direct reports—but exercises leadership through process ownership, cross-functional coordination, and strategic communication. This role requires a balance of relationship management, exceptional writing, proactive project management, and the ability to manage up to senior executives while working collaboratively across departments.

Key Responsibilities:

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

Strategize and implement donor engagement programs; build sustainable relationships with donors, partners, and sponsors.

• Build, maintain, and analyze donor and prospect records in the CRM (e.g., Salesforce) to support long-term relationship strategy.
• Develop and implement donor stewardship workflows including communication plans for new, current, and lapsed donors.
• Monitor donor activity and provide CEO/COO with weekly prioritized outreach lists, insights, and recommended touchpoints.
• Communicate directly with donors to thank them, provide updates, invite engagement, or prepare for leadership interactions.
• Schedule donor meetings for the CEO and COO, preparing briefings, talking points, and follow-up materials.
• Coordinate donor engagement events such as salons, cultivation gatherings, and the annual Gala—including donor communications, RSVPs, and event logistics.

COMMUNICATION

Produce high-quality donor communications; model values-aligned communication standards.

• Draft and edit compelling grant proposals, reports, letters of inquiry, fundraising narratives, and donor updates.
• Maintain and manage the full grants calendar and proactively ensure timely coordination with leadership.
• Manage communications with the CEO, COO, and Director of Programs to ensure adequate time for review, contribution, and submission of grant materials by deadlines.
• Prepare briefing materials, meeting packets, and follow-up communications that reflect SRA’s voice, mission, and strategy.
• Support donor presentations and collateral that highlight SRA’s impact, student stories, and funding needs.
• Maintain values-aligned, high-integrity communication with donors, partners, and internal teams.

FINANCIAL ACUMEN

Manage budgets, analyze fundraising outcomes, ensure transparency.

• Oversee accurate and timely gift processing, donor data entry, and acknowledgment letters.
• Support reconciliation of fundraising revenue with Finance; ensure aligned and accurate financial records across systems.
• Track donor giving patterns, revenue trends, and pipeline movement to support forecasting and strategy.
• Contribute to budgeting for grant portfolios, donor segments, and fundraising campaigns.
• Produce revenue reports and analyses to support leadership and Board-level decision-making.

SELF-MANAGEMENT & INITIATIVE

Take ownership of complex workflows; independently move projects forward.

• Lead and project manage fundraising workstreams including grant cycles, donor outreach sequences, and donor events.
• Anticipate leadership needs by preparing drafts, gathering required data, and identifying risks or bottlenecks early.
• Work laterally across Programs, Finance, Communications, and Operations to ensure alignment and timely contributions to development deliverables.
• Continuously refine development operations by improving systems, processes, and communications.
• Maintain professionalism, confidentiality, and judgment in donor and internal interactions.

INFORMED DECISION-MAKING

Use data and insights to guide fundraising strategy.

• Produce donor dashboards, analytics, and reports that inform CEO/COO fundraising priorities.
• Conduct donor and prospect research to support strategy development and cultivation planning.
• Analyze event performance, donor segmentation, and campaign engagement to improve future efforts.
• Identify relationship-building trends and risks and recommend strategic solutions.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate has deep experience in nonprofit fundraising, donor management, grant coordination, and donor event support. They are detail-oriented, deadline-driven, proactive, adaptable, and a creative problem solver eager to grow within the development field.

They excel at managing up to senior executives and working laterally across teams to achieve shared goals. They build trust easily, communicate with clarity, and hold a high bar for quality and relationships.

Qualifications

• 4–6 years in nonprofit development, grant writing, donor relations, or fundraising operations
• Proven success managing grants, donor stewardship workflows, and event coordination
• Excellent writing, editing, and verbal communication skills
• Strong project management skills and the ability to meet competing deadlines
• Experience with CRM systems; Salesforce experience strongly preferred
• Ability to work effectively with senior executives, donors, and cross-functional partners
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience preferred

Compensation

SRA offers a competitive salary and benefits package rooted in market research and commensurate with experience and skills. For this position the range is $80,000 to $88,600.

Application Instructions

To apply for this position, please submit a cover letter and resume. In your cover letter, please respond to the following:

1. Please describe a time when you managed multiple priorities in a fundraising or donor-facing role—such as coordinating with senior leaders, meeting tight deadlines, or executing donor events. What was your approach, and what was the outcome?

Applications will be accepted through December 19, 2025

SRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. SRA has a strong commitment to the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. We strive to create and maintain a professional environment that supports these practices. SRA welcomes and encourages applications from minorities, people of color, veterans, persons with disabilities, people of any religion, people of any sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression and members of the LGBTQI+ community. All applicants are considered for all positions without regard to pregnancy, age, physical/mental disability, medical condition, military/veteran status, genetic information, marital status, citizenship or immigration status, or any other protected classification, in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

• Hybrid work environment with day-to-day remote
• Medical, Dental, & Vision
  • Plans through Kaiser, United Health, Anthem Blue Cross, Sutter Health, Ameritas, and other providers
• Self-Care Days
• Flexible Vacation Time
• Monthly technology stipend
• Ability to invest in 403(b) Retirement Plan
• Mission-driven work with meaningful impact